SUVs - Whats the point?

SUVs - Whats the point?

Author
Discussion

popeyewhite

19,622 posts

119 months

Saturday 24th June 2017
quotequote all
Hungrymc said:
Comes back to the attributes you want and the compromises that these often contradictory attributes drive.
That's fair enough comment. I think derision is also levelled at SUVs because the moniker is actually, well, largely misleading. The name hopes to give rise to the understanding that these vehicles offer sporting performance and are a more practical everyday vehicle. The largest may be, of course, but they're not the ones that sell by the thousands in the UK. Actually the title 'SUV' is an aspirational lifestyle title thought up by ad men and doesn't describe the ugly little cars with a little bit more room and bigger wheels that are purchased by pensioners and husbands for their wives at all.

DoubleD

22,154 posts

107 months

Saturday 24th June 2017
quotequote all
You could say that about BMW and Audi using Touring and Avant rather than Estate.

Granfondo

12,241 posts

205 months

Saturday 24th June 2017
quotequote all
popeyewhite said:
That's fair enough comment. I think derision is also levelled at SUVs because the moniker is actually, well, largely misleading. The name hopes to give rise to the understanding that these vehicles offer sporting performance and are a more practical everyday vehicle. The largest may be, of course, but they're not the ones that sell by the thousands in the UK. Actually the title 'SUV' is an aspirational lifestyle title thought up by ad men and doesn't describe the ugly little cars with a little bit more room and bigger wheels that are purchased by pensioners and husbands for their wives at all.
Wasn't the monicker "SUV" something that came from the USA to describe rubbish cars like the Jeep!

popeyewhite

19,622 posts

119 months

Saturday 24th June 2017
quotequote all
Granfondo said:
Wasn't the monicker "SUV" something that came from the USA to describe rubbish cars like the Jeep!
You may well be right (not sure about the Jeep though, unless you mean larger versions). Originated in the USA to describe lifestyle and true 4x4 stuff like the Station Wagon and other huge vehicles, now used over here for much smaller runarounds.

FiF

43,960 posts

250 months

Saturday 24th June 2017
quotequote all
popeyewhite said:
Granfondo said:
Wasn't the monicker "SUV" something that came from the USA to describe rubbish cars like the Jeep!
You may well be right (not sure about the Jeep though, unless you mean larger versions). Originated in the USA to describe lifestyle and true 4x4 stuff like the Station Wagon and other huge vehicles, now used over here for much smaller runarounds.
I too think it was an American term. Over here it started to be used to describe vehicles which didn't fit the traditional off road 4*4 mould, is no separate chassis, no high/low range gearbox, no locking diffs and so on.

Since then the problem is that technology has developed such that the criteria above are very much old hat, so that you can have vehicles which are very capable off road which have none of those criteria, yet achieve those extreme off road capabilities in other ways.

Couple that with a downward trend for vehicles that have some of the features, eg high ground clearance, similar body style but with much more basic underpinnings.

It's this group which have caused some of the scornful outpourings seen here.

Is that scorn warranted? I'd say no, let people have what they choose to have regardless of the reasons behind that choice. In other words STFU and close the thread.

colonel c

7,888 posts

238 months

Saturday 24th June 2017
quotequote all
FiF said:
.............. and close the thread.
The thread can’t be closed yet. No has informed us what the Australians say about If you want to go out into the bush.

Hotel India

456 posts

196 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
If you want to go for a drive in the outback, you could take a Land Rover.

If you want to get out again, you should take a Land Cruiser.

Or something like that.




Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
Hotel India said:
If you want to go for a drive in the outback, you could take a Land Rover.

If you want to get out again, you should take a Land Cruiser.

Or something like that.
Or if you want to enjoy yourself you take a Maloo!

fttm

3,665 posts

134 months

Sunday 25th June 2017
quotequote all
SUVs were originally built on a pickup truck chassis , then the "crossover" evolved which is a smaller version based on a manufacturers car and sub frames . Not my cup of tea but each to their own etc